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- Author: Tamara Grantham
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I nodded. It was a painful subject, but no one had experienced High Sorcerer Varlocke’s wrath as badly as the Outlanders.
“My mother discovered what the king was doing,” I said. “She was infuriated, but there was nothing she could do to harm him—the magical radishes made sure of that—so she did something petty and stupid, something I’m ashamed of, and something I pay the price for every day. She cursed his only offspring, his daughter Rapunzel. She made it so that her hair would grow unnaturally long, weighing so heavy it left her bedridden. My mother created the curse so that only a prince with a noble heart would have the ability to break it.
“The high sorcerer killed my mother after she cursed his daughter, but it didn’t stop his rage. He cast a spell to kill all the princesses in the land, making sure everyone felt his suffering, and then he locked his only daughter in a tower, and demanded I be her protector as punishment for my mother’s crimes.”
“It’s true, then? You really are Witch Aethel’s daughter?”
I nodded as he attempted to look under my hood’s cowl. “And you have…?”
“Blue hair? Yes.”
I pushed my cowl back for a moment. His eyes widened. It wasn’t only the color that made it stand out, but the magic that came with it. Sparks danced through the strands, reflected in the greenish-blue color of my eyes. I quickly replaced my head covering before anyone else noticed.
A serving girl arrived with two steaming bowls and placed them in front of us.
“Onion stew,” she said, then turned away. I grabbed my spoon and took a small bite. The saltiness of the broth mingled with the sharp, rich flavor of the onion. I ate guiltily, thinking of Rapunzel stuck in the tower with nothing but moldy bread and those awful wild beets. I would return soon. She would be eating like a queen by tomorrow morning.
“You said only a prince with a noble heart could break Rapunzel’s curse?” Raj asked.
“Yes.”
“So, it is possible to break the curse?”
We were back to the curse again. Somehow, I knew he wouldn’t let it go.
“No, it’s not possible. I told you that already.”
“But you said—”
“I said a prince with a noble heart could break the curse, but there are none.”
He worked his jaw back and forth, and I couldn’t help but notice the way his muscles played along his strong jawline. Mesmerizing, in a way.
I stopped myself. I couldn’t seriously be attracted to this man, could I? No. I refused to entertain such thoughts.
Turning back to my stew, I ate in silence.
“If we were to find a prince—”
“No.”
He sighed in exasperation. “There’s got to be something. I can’t bring Prince Merek’s sleeping body back to his father without freeing the princess, and I can’t leave him inside that tower the way he is. He was barely breathing as it was.”
“Wait,” I said, my spoon halfway to my mouth. “How do you know he was barely breathing?”
“It was dark for one thing, and that hair! By the gods, I’ve never seen anything like it. He fell unconscious as soon as he saw that poor girl, and when I left, I could tell he was still breathing, but—”
“Back up. You saw Rapunzel? You went inside the tower?”
“Yes, how else would I have known what happened to him?”
“I didn’t realize you went inside the tower.”
“Well, I couldn’t have done my job of protecting the prince if I’d stayed outside, could I?”
“How?” I sputtered. “It’s not possible for anyone to enter the tower but me and the high sorcerer without falling under the spell…”
“I got lucky, I suppose.”
I eyed him. I wasn’t entirely sure he was telling the truth. He was desperate to save the prince. What if he was trying to trick me?
“Raj.” I said his name slowly. “I want you to be very sure you’re recalling last night to the best of your ability. Are you certain you went inside the tower?”
“Of course! I have no reason to lie to you.”
“Actually, you do.”
“Are you accusing me of lying?”
“I’m accusing you of remembering incorrectly.”
He sat back, crossing his arms, making his muscles bulge, which I tried hard not to notice, but failed. “Then let me prove it to you. Take me back to the tower, and I’ll show you how I entered without falling under Rapunzel’s curse.”
“I’ll think about it,” I said, taking another bite. “It’s probably because you’re not a prince. The spell must only work if someone with noble blood tries to free her. Since you’re not, it didn’t affect you.”
“Does this mean you’ll take me back to the tower?”
“Fine,” I relented. “But first, I finish my stew.”
Moonlight illuminated the tower as Raj and I crossed into the meadow. The handcart’s wheels squeaked as I pulled it to a stop at the base of the tower. Raj had been true to his word and purchased all the supplies we needed for winter. I couldn’t complain—I was grateful he’d done it. I only hoped he didn’t expect a miracle in return.
Now I had the chore of transporting everything into the tower. Luckily, I’d brought my largest knapsack. As I loaded vessels of lentils, bags of flour, and a few jars of syrup into my bag, Raj stood over me.
“You’re bringing all that up there?” he asked.
“It’s better than leaving it down here.”
“You really live up there all the time?”
“Yes, I only ever come out to gather edibles, or when we’re desperate for supplies.”
“But how do you get water?”
“We have a well inside the tower. Can you help me?” I tossed him an empty burlap sack. If he was so insistent on being here, he might as well help me.
“It seems like a lonely existence.”
I eyed him. Lonely? What did he know of loneliness? I didn’t feel like admitting to this stranger how desperately lonely the past five years had been, how I lay awake at night wishing I had someone to talk to, feeling as if the silence would drive me to insanity. No, he didn’t need to know any of that.
“It’s not that bad. Rapunzel isn’t one for talking, but we have a cat. His name is Jester. He keeps me company most of the time.”
“A cat?”
“Yes. He’s mostly feral. But he’s friendly enough, and he comes and goes as he pleases. He’s even learned to climb the vines to get in and out of the tower. He’s quite clever.” I adjusted the pack’s straps on my shoulders. “Now, let’s get up there before Rapunzel…” I stopped myself. “Let’s get up there.”
With the pack strapped to my back, I turned to the tower. Wind rushed past, battering my hair against my cheeks, as I prepared to speak the spell.
“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!” My words carried on the wind, echoing through the forest.
I waited, nervousness making my hands grow clammy as I held to the pack’s straps, but why did I feel so uneasy? Was it because Raj was with me?
I turned to him. He stood with haunting dark eyes as he watched a coil of ropy, matted hair drop from the tower’s only window high above us. I stepped to the length of hair and grabbed it, holding my breath against the scent of unwashed scalp. I never got used to that smell.
“Should I follow you?” Raj asked.
“Yes. But let me enter first.” Gripping the hair tightly, I started the climb. I made my way toward the window at the top of the tower. Halfway up, my muscles burned, and I focused on breathing to make it the rest of the way. This part was always the hardest, and the sack of supplies weighing me down wasn’t helping. Why did Varlocke have to put his daughter into such an impossibly tall tower?
When I reached the window, I grabbed the ledge. The worn stones felt smooth under my palms as I climbed over, then landed inside. As I straightened, I pulled off the pack and left it on the floor, then focused on the room. Moonlight illuminated the bare stones walls, the well sitting at the room’s center, the wooden chairs, roughly-hewn tables, huge bookcases cluttered with dusty spell journals and vials, and the bed where Rapunzel lay.
I stepped over the matted coils of hair. Pieces of rat and bird bones lay trapped in the knotted strands, seeming to glow white against the dark hair. The sound of gnawing stopped me.
She wasn’t.
“Rapunzel,”
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